Digital Health Coaching as a Modern Employee Benefit

New Work Models Increase Employee Burnout and Health Issues 

Open-ended remote and hybrid work has exacerbated employee burnout - a syndrome outlined by the World Health Organization resulting from chronic workplace stress characterized by decreased work efficiency, exhaustion, energy depletion, and negative and cynical feelings related to a job. 

These feelings are further compounded by increased substance use, sleep issues, and chronic health issues due to the current climate. All of which have a negative impact on safety, absenteeism, and productivity. To make matters worse, remote and hybrid workers aren’t always getting the support they need to cope.

Employers Turn to Digital Health Coaching to Support Workers 

Employees need to feel supported while maintaining a sense of privacy. Unfortunately, people struggling with substance abuse disorder and mental health issues are often conditioned to remain silent — to suffer alone. Especially now, workers may even view their struggles as a temporary result of the pandemic rather than an undiagnosed problem. The issues are real, however. 

Between August 2020 and February 2021, the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of anxiety or depression increased from 36,4% to 41,5%, and the rate of those reporting unmet mental health care needs increased from 9.2% to 11.7%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With the pervasiveness of unfulfilled mental health care in America, companies can fill the void to provide employees with guided intervention — supporting employees and helping them make lasting change. Companies can accomplish these goals by adopting robust substance use health insurance and policies, improving workplace culture, educating employees to promote drug-free workplaces, and providing employees with supportive and confidential services in a digital health coaching program.

Digital Health Coaching Meets Employees Where They Are

The root of a healthy company is a healthy workforce. Yet, many employer-backed health and wellness programs struggle to attract, engage, and produce tangible outcomes for employees. In addition, traditional programs are plagued with a one-size-fits-all approach to personal struggles. Personalizing care is critical for employers who want to build a pathway that helps individual employees build a strong foundation and momentum to overcome their struggles. 

With the help of a digital health coaching program, blending cognitive-behavioral training with vdeo-based educational modules and a vast library of impactful content, every employee can obtain support and help when they need it. In addition, by creating personalized experiences and providing targeted content that appeals to different learning styles, such programs can effectively engage employees - raising the likelihood employees complete the program and achieve positive outcomes with staying power. 

Enganging Health Coaching Programs Benefit Workers and Employees 

For employers questioning whether adding a digital health coaching program to their employee benefits is worth the cost, the answer is a resounding yes — yes, it is worth it. 

Some 80% of the total costs for treating chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer, asthma, and more stem from risks and unhealthy behaviors worsened by the pandemic. These include poor stress management and standard of care, insufficient sleep, excessive alcohol, drug use and smoking, poor diet, and a lack of physical activity and health screenings. As a result, costs to both workers and employers come in the form of additional healthcare spend and productivity loss. 

Data suggest the benefits of adopting a digital health coaching program, which helps reduce lifestyle risks and unhealthy behaviors, can result in significant savings for employers and employees alike. 

Depression, for example, the second-leading cause of “years lived with disability” worldwide, is steadily linked with greater economic burden and reduced work productivity, and this was pre-pandemic. It’s also estimated to cost employers nearly $20,000 per 100 employees each year in lost productivity and additional healthcare costs. Then there’s obesity. A chronic condition gradually rising, obesity increased from 30.5% to 42.4% from 1999–2000 through 2017–2018. Obesity alone can cost employers $100,000 – $550,000 each year per 100 employees in disability, workers’ compensation, absenteeism, and presenteeism.

Enhanced Digital Health Coaching 

Enhanced digital health coaching serves to lower these costs. Employees who improve their general health and complete their treatment protocols to address risky behaviors, mental and chronic health issues are less likely to require expensive interventions later, saving them and their employers in the long run. 

Employers must act as employees continue to deal with pandemic burnout, increased stresses, substance use, and other risky behaviors. In doing so, they’ll help employees address the issues they may be silently struggling with, allowing them to make lasting change and improve the health of their workplaces.

Source: HR Today